Costa Rica

Costa Rica is Central America's jewel. It's an oasis of calm among its turbulent neighbours and an ecotourism heaven, making it one of the best places to experience the tropics with minimal impact. It's also mostly coastline, which means great surfing, beaches galore and a climate built for laziness.

Costa Rica 's enlightened approach to conservation has ensured that lush jungles are home to playful monkeys, languid sloths, crocodiles, countless lizards, poison-dart frogs and a mind-boggling assortment of exotic birds, insects and butterflies. Meanwhile, endangered sea turtles nest on both coasts and cloud forests protect elusive birds and jungle cats.

Among the Costa Rican amphibians, there are several species of frogs and toads. There are beautiful but extremely toxic frogs that display amazing colors as a natural warning against predators. There are at least twenty poison-arrow frogs, thus named because of their use of the toxins in deadly arrows of some natives.

1800.00 CAD
4 Nights

Belize

Dabbling its toes in the Caribbean Sea, Belize has more in common with its island neighbours than with the fiery volatility of Central America. Its history is thoroughly coup-free. Spanish and British influences remain: the population are English-speaking. Creole and Mestizos ethnic groups dominate, and this tiny country has an atmosphere so very laid-back it's almost comatose.

Many locations within Belize cannot be accessed without the use of a private vehicle. Whether in a taxi, tour van, or in a personal rental, the freedom of four wheels will add significantly to what visitors are able to see while traveling Belize. Provided below is a listing of the various rental agencies throughout the country

Cayman Island

The Cayman Islands are dotted with deal-cutting characters with briefcases and cellphones, scuba divers in electric wetsuits and English folk checking the cricket scores over a tipple. The islands vibrate with colour: coral reefs, bright orange frogfish, sociable stingrays and reggae beats on the street.

As a result of the island's mellow charms, resorts and condos have sprung up all over, and you can count on air-con, cold beer and ESPN. But if you want to get away from it all there are lots of places to escape satellite dishes and slickness, not least of them underwater.